


Good Samaritan

by WinterSky101



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bullshit Science, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drama, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Made-Up Science, Not Iron Man 3 Compliant, Post - The Avengers, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2013-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-05 00:22:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1087381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterSky101/pseuds/WinterSky101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last thing Tony expected to see that Sunday night was a semi-conscious, rain-soaked Bruce Banner, looking like something the cat dragged in. But, of course, once he saw him, he had to help out, right? Good Samaritan and all. And, of course, there was the pesky little fact that Tony was pretty sure he was in love with Bruce.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good Samaritan

Tony was walking home from the bar he had been frequenting for the past week in the rain. It wasn't a very pleasant time for a stroll, but Happy was visiting family and it was only two blocks away from Stark Tower, so it wasn't like the walk was very long. Tony could manage.

As he neared the tower, he saw a man slumped against a building.  _Poor guy,_  he thought as he walked past the figure. He gave the man a sympathetic smile and tossed a small bill in his direction. Then he continued walking-

Wait. Back up. Take another look. Oh God, was that  _Bruce_?!

"Bruce?" Tony asked, kneeling next to the man. Upon closer examination, he realized it  _was_  Bruce. How he had gotten there was anyone's guess, but it was him. "Bruce, buddy? Are you okay?"

Tony took Bruce's face in his hands and found that, despite the cold and the rain, it was alarmingly hot. Especially his forehead. "What the hell are you doing out here?" Tony asked rhetorically. He wished Bruce would answer, but he didn't seem to be conscious.

Tony suddenly remembered a conversation he had had with Bruce before he had moved out of the tower. They had somehow gotten on the topic of medicine, and Tony had asked how Bruce felt comfortable treating people in third world countries. What if he got sick and the Hulk came out? What would a sick Hulk be like?

Bruce's reply?  _"I don't get sick. I haven't gotten sick since the experiment. I can treat contagious diseases without having to worry."_

So, if Bruce didn't get sick, then why was he unconscious outside of Stark Tower, running a fever high enough to make a significant appearance in almost-freezing weather? Something had to be at work, something big. And if it had already gotten one of the Avengers down for the count, it might have been going for more.

Tony lifted Bruce in a fireman's carry and walked the last few yards to the front door of Stark Tower. He entered the building and told JARVIS to inform Pepper of Bruce's condition, then he went to the elevator and went the bedroom Bruce had used before he left Stark Tower. Tony had kept the room in the same condition it had been in when Bruce left, in case he returned. He gently lay Bruce down on the bed, hoping he could do something - anything - to help. After all, he did have an obligation to help a friend in need. Especially one he had such strong feelings for.

Tony pushed that thought out of his mind and allowed another thought, this one meaningless, to fill his brain.

 _I wonder what a sick Hulk_ would _be like…_

* * *

_Twenty-three hours earlier_

It was somewhere between ten and eleven at night - probably closer to eleven - and Bruce was completely exhausted. Nightmares had plagued his mind the night before and made it impossible for him to sleep. He had been having that issue for a few days and had gotten into a pattern: he wouldn't sleep for around thirty-six hours, then he would collapse with exhaustion and be free from nightmares. He realized it was probably unhealthy, but it worked well enough, though looking in the mirror told him the bags under his eyes were more prominent. The approximately five hours of sleep that he would end up getting weren't in a good ratio to the thirty-six hours of staying awake, but it was the only way to keep the nightmares away. It was worth it, really. The terrible visions that he had when he closed his eyes were too horrible to bear, and if the cost of avoiding them was his health, then so be it.

A knock came on Bruce's door, startling him.  _Who would be calling at this time of night?_  he grumbled mentally. His first thought was that it had to be a patient and he instantly felt bad for what he had thought. He went up to the door and opened it, forcing a smile to his face.

"Hey, what's-"

Bruce's voice was cut off abruptly as a needle was jabbed into his arm.

He was unconscious before the Hulk could come out.

* * *

"Oh my God, what happened?" Pepper cried as she entered the room. Tony looked up in surprise. He had almost forgotten he had told JARVIS to call for her. "Tony, what did you do?"

"Me?" Tony demanded, looking at Pepper with an affronted face. "Why did you expect I did something?"

"Well, normally this sort of stuff is your fault. So if you didn't do it, what happened?"

"No idea. I just found Bruce outside, running a fever. I think he must have been trying to get here or something and just didn't make it."

"Why would he come here if he just had a fever?" Pepper asked, confused.

Tony looked up from where he was dabbing a cold washcloth on Bruce's face. "Because he can't _get_ a fever."

Pepper looked at him strangely. "If he can't get a fever, then how does he have one now?"

"That, my dear Pepper, is the question."

Tony went to give Pepper a quick kiss, not thinking, but she pulled away. Tony must have been more drunk than he had realized, as he had forgotten the reason he had gone to the bar in the first place. He and Pepper had decided to take a break in their relationship. It hadn't been a big thing. The two of them had mutually agreed that the relationship wasn't working. They had decided - together! - that they needed to take a break for a while to see if they could put it back together.

And then Tony had gone off, gotten drunk, gone back to Stark Tower, and cried himself to sleep. JARVIS had been very annoyed at his complaining about how Pepper was "the best thing that ever happened to him" and "life would never be the same again" and had thus locked his door until he had been completely sober the next morning. It had led to a few events that Tony would swear to his dying day never happened. Even if JARVIS hadn't let him delete the evidence.

Sometimes, Tony wished he hadn't programmed his A.I. to be so damn like him.

That was the reason that Tony had found the little bar a few blocks away. After he and Pepper decided to take a break, he had left the Tower on foot and stumbled upon the little place. It was run by a man who was willing to keep quiet about Tony Stark being there for $500 a night, in addition to Tony's fairly-hefty tab, which barely made a dent in one of his thousands of bank accounts, and there was normally almost no one else there. It was, in short, pretty much a perfect place.

And, if he hadn't been walking home from it, he probably wouldn't have noticed Bruce, so that was another reason why the bar was amazing. The thought occurred to Tony that an anonymous donation to the place would probably help fix it up a lot, thus helping the bar and, by extension, himself. He would get on that as soon as Bruce was better.

Speaking of which, getting a doctor for Bruce would probably be a good idea. It couldn't be a normal doctor, and Tony was loath to bring SHIELD into this. If the patient were anyone else, Tony would have called Bruce for help, but considering the circumstances… Tony would have to find someone else. Unfortunately, he didn't actually know many doctors.

"Hey, Pep?" Tony asked, turning back towards Pepper.  _Maybe Pepper knows a good doctor_. "Do you…"

His voice trailed off as he realized Pepper was no where to be seen. "JARVIS, when did Pepper leave, where did she go, and why?"

_"Sir, Miss Potts left approximately a minute ago. She is currently in the elevator on her way to her office. She said that she would leave the two of you alone, but you were not listening."_

"Leave us alone?" Tony repeated in confusion. "Why would she think she had to leave the two of us alone?"

_"I don't know, sir."_

Tony frowned. "Keep an eye on Bruce, JARVIS. Alert me if anything changes."

_"Yes, sir. And where are you going, if I may ask?"_

"To go see Pepper."

He shot Bruce one last look before heading for Pepper's office. He couldn't think of why she would have left. She liked Bruce, Tony knew that, and he could see the worry in her eyes when she saw him unconscious on the bed. Why would she think she had to leave?

The elevator came to a stop at the tenth floor and Tony exited it just as confused as he'd been when he entered. He reached Pepper's office and entered without bothering to knock.

"Tony?" Pepper asked, looking surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"What are  _you_ doing here?" Tony countered. "JARVIS said you said you were leaving me and Bruce alone?"

"Well, yes." Pepper frowned. "I thought you two would want that?"

"Why would we want that?"

Pepper shrugged. "I just thought you might want some privacy if he woke up."

Tony blinked. "What? Why would I want privacy when he woke up?"

Pepper looked just as confused as Tony felt. "Well, because you're in love with him."

* * *

_Nineteen hours earlier_

When Bruce finally came to, he was tied to a chair in an unfamiliar place. And so, understandably, he panicked. But not for himself.

"You don't know what you're doing," he desperately told the man in the doorway. "Please. I don't want to hurt anyone. Just let me go and then nothing bad will happen."

The guard didn't move, but someone behind Bruce laughed. The sound sent chills down Bruce's spine. "Oh, Dr. Banner. You don't think we know who you are?" The voice was low and deceptively calm. "We know all about you and your… condition. We know why you're afraid. But _we're_ not." Bruce heard footsteps behind him, getting closer, but he couldn't see anyone in the darkness of the room. "You fear the monster. Why? It is your best weapon, your guardian."

"It's a killer," Bruce replied in a voice that was as controlled as he could make it. "You don't understand."

"Oh, I think I do." The figure came into the light. Bruce's eyes went wide.

"You! But I thought…"

"You thought your precious SHIELD got rid of me. Well, surprise, doctor, but they didn't."

"You don't know what you're dealing with," Bruce tried again, desperate.

"I have been exposed to the radiation you have. I had the samples of blood and you stole them!"

"They were samples of  _my_ blood!"

"I cloned them! They were mine!"

"They were dangerous, I was _saving_ you-"

"You stole my life's work, so I'll just have to start again. And my first subject, Dr. Banner, will be you."

* * *

When JARVIS informed Tony that Bruce had awoken, Tony stared at Pepper across the desk for a long moment. At her nod, he sprinted out of the room.

"Has he said anything, JARVIS?"

_"No, sir. He seems to be trying to control his heart rate."_

"How fast is it?"

_"One hundred fifty beats per minute and slowing, sir."_

The rate wasn't fast enough to cause a change, to Tony's relief. He shifted in the elevator, which seemed to be moving very slowly. "Can't this thing move any faster?"

_"The elevator is already moving at one hundred percent capacity, sir."_

"Can you get that higher?"

There was a pause, then, _"If I cut the lights in the elevator, sir, I can reroute the energy to get the power to one hundred twenty percent. It would be unwise to make the elevator go faster than that."_

"Do it," Tony instructed. The elevator went dark, the only light now coming from the arc reactor in Tony's chest, and picked up speed. "And remind me to figure out how to make a faster elevator."

_"Yes, sir."_

As the elevator went faster, Tony shifted his weight from side to side, wishing he could go faster than the already heightened speed. He couldn't wait to see Bruce awake. He hadn't seen him since the fiasco with Loki and the Chitauri, and he missed him. The second the elevator doors opened, Tony raced to Bruce's door, ready to see him again.

The last thing Tony expected was for Bruce to panic the second he caught sight of Tony and try and get as far away from him as possible, but that's what he did.

"Please, no," Bruce begged, sliding away as much as he could, his eyes fever-bright. "Please, I'm sorry, but  _please_ , stop. I shouldn't have destroyed your samples, I know, but _please_ , I can't..."

Tony stared at Bruce silently, trying to make sense of the delusional begging. What the  _hell_ had happened?

"Bruce?" he finally asked softly, finding his voice. "Bruce, it's me. Tony."

"Please, stop," Bruce whispered, tears in his eyes. "Just a short break. That's all I'm asking for. One day.  _Please_."

"Bruce, you're in Stark Tower. You're safe. It's me, Tony. Everything's okay."

Apparently, somewhere in Bruce's mind, Tony's words were being heard, but the fever took them and warped them into something terrible. Bruce gasped in horror.

"No! No, you can't! I'm sorry, but you have to leave him alone,  _please_. If you do anything to the arc reactor, Tony will  _die_. Just experiment on me and leave him alone."

Tony's heart was breaking. "Bruce, please, calm down. I'm right here. No one is trying to mess with the reactor and no one is going to experiment on you anymore. I swear to you. You're safe."

"No, please! Please, don't do this, I'm sorry for what I did, but don't drag Tony into this! Leave him alone,  _please_!"

"Bruce, calm down! You're safe, I'm safe, we're all safe. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."

Tony's words had no effect. Bruce continued his panicked babble, sounding more and more desperate with every word. Cautiously, Tony took a step forward, ignoring the way Bruce flinched and tried to pull away from him, and wrapped his arms around Bruce. At first, Bruce panicked even more and desperately attempted to escape the embrace, but in a flash of inspiration, Tony grabbed Bruce's hand and placed it over his arc reactor. Abruptly, Bruce stopped struggling.

"T-Tony?" he stuttered, blinking and looking back at Tony. His eyes looked marginally clearer. "He said he was going to go after you. I couldn't let him. I couldn't let him hurt you. He didn't get you, did he?"

"Who did this to you?" Tony asked, wrapping an arm around Bruce's shoulders and holding him as Bruce trembled. "Who was it?"

"He calls himself 'the Leader' now. I asked him for help and he took my blood. I destroyed the samples."

"What's his name, Bruce? I can stop him from ever hurting you again if you tell me his name."

"Sterns. Samuel Sterns. He's going to kill me, Tony. He tried his compounds out on me and he..."

"What did he do, Bruce?" Tony demanded, seeing Bruce's eyes were losing lucidity. "Bruce!"

"He said," Bruce whispered, clearly struggling to stay conscious long enough to say the words, "he said he was going to destroy me the same way I destroyed his lab. He said I would burn for it."

Tony felt panic claw at his heart as Bruce's eyes fluttered closed. He placed a trembling hand on Bruce's forehead.

It had gotten hotter.

Whatever Sterns had injected him with, it was burning him up from the inside out.

* * *

_Eleven hours earlier_

Eight hours into the experiments with Sterns, Bruce's right arm was alternately burning or icy cold where the many needle marks were, and his whole body ached. He didn't know what Sterns had injected him with, but he was certain it was nothing good.

For the moment, Sterns - or as he preferred to be called, "the Leader" - was gone, but Bruce knew he would be returning before too long. He had left a few times, but he always came back. Most of those other times, Bruce was too far gone to be particularly coherent, but now, he could think. He could spend this time constructively.

He could look for an escape.

The pain in his arm was distracting, but Bruce forced himself to work through it. He looked around the small room he was in. There was a table - far out of his reach, of course - full of the compounds Sterns had been injecting into him. A door was across from him, probably about ten feet away from where he was bound to a chair. He couldn't call on the Hulk even if he wanted to. Before he'd woken, Sterns had injected him with something that kept him sluggish and unable to call up a surge of emotion powerful enough to awaken the Hulk. Even if Bruce _could_ call on the Hulk, he wasn't sure if he would be able to bring himself to do so. He couldn't bear for innocent people to get caught up in the crossfire.

But thinking about escape was fairly fruitless anyway, because after he got out, he'd need to get help. And that was where his plans fell apart, because he had no idea where to go.

His first thought would be SHIELD, but the fact that Sterns was free in the first place made him a little wary of trusting the organization that was supposed to have dealt with him. His next thought was one of the Avengers, but which one? Thor was in Asgard and thus very unavailable, Steve had decided to travel around the U.S. to get used to the way it was compared to how it had been seventy years ago, and no one knew where Clint and Natasha had gone. The only option was... Tony. Of course.

It was a testament to the crippling pain Bruce was feeling that he hadn't thought of him first. His self-proclaimed "best friend" would definitely help him out. And Tony had the money and the resources to help him figure out what Sterns had injected him with, and-

But what if Sterns followed him?

The thought prompted a sudden flow of terror. If Bruce was followed, then he would be putting Tony in danger. And that was simply unacceptable. He couldn't do that to his friend, one of the few true friends he still had. He had to protect Tony, even if he hurt himself in the process.

No matter what happened to him, he had to keep Tony from harm.

As Sterns reentered the room with a new box, probably full of syringes, Bruce resolved not to go to Tony unless there was no danger to him.

He couldn't let Tony get hurt.

* * *

Tony had gotten three calls from Fury and two from Pepper, but he had ignored all five to continue working in the lab, trying to figure out what exactly this "Leader" person had injected Bruce with and how to counteract it. He had taken a sample of his blood to analyze it, but so far, the four things he had found in the blood wouldn't cause the reaction that was occurring. There had to be at least one more-

"Tony!"

"Holy shit, Pepper!" Tony yelled, almost dropping the sample he held. "How the hell did you…"

"I have clearance to get in here, remember? I can go in your lab if I want, and when you ignore two calls and seven texts, then I need to talk to you. If you're in your lab, I go in."

"Seven texts?" Tony asked, surprised. He knew about the two calls, but he hadn't noticed the texts.

"What the hell is going on here?" Pepper demanded. "Bruce is burning up in his room, and you've been holed up in your lab for an hour-"

"Bruce is dying," Tony interrupted. Pepper's voice trailed off and her eyes went wide. "Unless I can figure out how to counteract the things he was injected with, he is going to die a very painful death. So you need to leave me alone so I can do that!" Tony was aware of the fact that his voice was getting slightly hysterical, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Pepper stared at him. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Tony ran a hand through his hair, tugging at it a little. "I don't know, see if there's anything you can do to make him more comfortable? He's going to burn up from the inside out-"

"He's going to  _what_?"

"-So ice might help? I don't _know_." Tony wanted to throw something. "Bruce is dying, and I don't know how to help."

Pepper put a tentative hand on Tony's back. "You'll figure it out, Tony. I know you will. I'll go do what I can to keep Bruce comfortable until you figure this out."

Tony let out a long breath and forced himself to relax. "Thank you."

"Good luck," Pepper added. She gave Tony a quick peck on the cheek and left the lab. Tony took another deep breath and returned his attention to the table in front of him. He needed to isolate more compounds in Bruce's blood, and fast.

"JARVIS, can you find anything else?" he demanded.

 _"No, sir, I have not yet-"_ Mid-sentence, JARVIS stopped abruptly. _"Sir? You ought to see this."_

"What is it, JARVIS?" Tony asked frantically, kicking the leg of the desk he was currently sitting at so his chair would wheel over to the biggest monitor screen.

JARVIS showed an image of Bruce's blood, magnified so they could see the individual cells. "Holy shit," Tony breathed. He watched in horror as  _something_  literally burned one of Bruce's red blood cells. "What the hell is that, JARVIS?"

_"I am not sure, sir. I believe it to be a compound of some sort, but some of the materials inside it are not within my database."_

"Not in your- JARVIS, I swear, if you're messing with me…"

_"I am not 'messing with you,' sir. There are some parts of this compound that I believe were created by Sterns himself. I could analyze them and perhaps figure out what they are, but I assume you would prefer I find a compound to negate the effects of this one."_

"Yeah. What do we know is in there?" Tony asked, moving over to a desk more suited to this sort of work. He had actually bought all of the equipment he was currently using for Bruce, on the off chance that he would return. He wanted him to have a state-of-the-art lab to work on finding a cure for the Hulk, if that was what he really wanted, or find a way to control the Hulk, if Tony got his way.

 _"Many acidic compounds seem to be in this, including concentrated amounts of sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and carbonic acid,"_ JARVIS stated. _"I would suggest creating an injection of the respective conjugate base of each acid and using it to neutralize the compound. That should stop the effects on Dr. Banner's blood."_

"Wait," Tony asked, freezing mid-motion. "Bruce has three very strong acids traveling through his bloodstream and he's not dead?"

_"He will be soon if you do not counteract their effects."_

Tony took a deep breath. "Right. So we need to get sulfate hydroxide, chloride hydroxide, and carbonate hydroxide. Do I have those?"

 _"Yes, sir. In your lab two floors below this one."_ Tony stood and sprinted for the stairs. He reached the lab and ran to the supply cabinet. _"Sir, Dr. Banner's temperature seems to be increasing-"_

"Mute!" Tony snapped. JARVIS's voice cut off abruptly. Quickly, Tony tore through the cabinet, trying to find the proper bases. It probably only took about a minute to find sulfate, chloride, and carbonate hydroxide, but it seemed to take much longer. When the three bottles were cradled to his chest, Tony raced back up the stairs. When he reached the lab, he dumped them on the table.

"JARVIS, unmute. What do I do now?"

_"Create an injection with ten milliliters of each base, sir."_

Tony tore through the drawers until he found a graduated cylinder, then he carefully measured out ten milliliters of each base and then poured them into a common beaker. After a moment, he found a syringe big enough to hold all of the liquid and he prepared it.

"Is this it? Now I just inject this into Bruce?"

_"Yes, sir. It should negate the effects of the acids."_

Normally, Tony would ask for the margin of error, but here, he really didn't want to know. Instead, he raced to Bruce's room six floors below and flung the door open.

Bruce was still, deadly still. Pepper was sitting on the edge of the bed, wiping at Bruce's brow with a wet cloth.

"Tony, have you-" Pepper asked, but Tony ignored her. He pushed up Bruce's sleeve and found the vein, then he stabbed the needle into Bruce's arm and emptied the contents into his bloodstream.

"How long before it's done its work?" Tony asked JARVIS.

_"Unknown, sir."_

"Is that going to save him?" Pepper asked worriedly.

 _"It should help to negate the effects of some of the compounds in Dr. Banner's blood,"_ JARVIS explained when Tony didn't reply.

"Thank God," Pepper whispered. "You did it, Tony."

"We don't know that," Tony countered, sinking onto the bed. "It might not work. We don't know if it'll be enough."

Pepper pressed her lips together. "I believe in you, Tony."

 _"We should be able to see significant improvement within a minute or so,"_ JARVIS added.

Tony took a deep breath, wove his fingers through Bruce's unresponsive ones, and settled down to wait.

* * *

_Three hours ago_

Sterns had left about two hours ago, and Bruce's guard looked ready to fall asleep. If any time would've been good to escape, it would have been right then. Finally ready to put his plan into action, the plan he had spent the last seven hours developing and editing, Bruce closed his eyes and tried to call on the Hulk.

It was hard. The suppressors Sterns had given him were doing their jobs. But Bruce could feel their bonds slipping away. Sterns hadn't reinjected him with more, and the drugs from about seventeen hours ago was wearing off. Sterns was being sloppy. Bruce hoped it wasn't a trap. He was hoping that the lingering suppressors would keep the Hulk weak enough for Bruce to stay in control.

Within a few minutes, Bruce managed to turn himself into a strange mix of himself and the Hulk. He managed to break the ropes tying him to the chair, then he smashed the chair down on his guard's head before allowing his body to relax and return to normal. He felt exhausted, as much so as if he'd done a full transformation, but he had to keep going.

Bruce stumbled out of the room, feeling like he might collapse any minute. He was going to go to Tony. He had to. There was no other option. He would just have to be careful. Once he got to Tony, he could warn him, and he would be safe. Tony was a multi-billionaire and a powerful superhero. He could protect himself from Sterns, and Bruce had no where else to go.

Bruce made his way out of the building he was being held in without encountering a single person. He expected to have to find some way of contacting Tony when he got outside, but when he stepped outside, he looked around in confusion. In front of Bruce was not the vacant area in the middle of Canada where he had been before Sterns captured him. Instead, Bruce faced the Manhattan skyline, and in clear view, right in the middle, was Stark Tower.

This was better than Bruce could have dared hope for, to be that close to Tony and thus his salvation. He looked around to make sure Sterns was nowhere nearby before beginning to walk towards the heart of the city. Other people avoided him and he could only imagine how terrible he looked. He definitely wouldn't be out of place among the large homeless population New York City had to offer. But it was better to be avoided than to be sought out anyway, so Bruce didn't mind much as he picked his way through the crowds, every step bringing him closer to Tony.

When Bruce finally got within sight of Stark Tower, he could see Tony walking away from it. He wanted to call out to him, but his voice only came out as a croak when he tried. He knew there was no way he could catch up to him. Bruce's entire body felt hot and he didn't know how much longer he could stay conscious. Rather than trying to get into Stark Tower, which would undeniably cause a scene, Bruce made it to a building next door and slumped against the wall. He hoped Tony would recognize him when he returned from wherever he had gone off to. Bruce doubted he would be conscious enough to catch his attention.

Feeling the heat throughout his body rise, despite the chill in the air and the rain that was beginning to fall, Bruce slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

 _"Sir?"_ JARVIS said softly. It had been nearly five minutes since Tony had injected the chemicals into Bruce's bloodstream, and so far there had been no visible effect. _"Sir, I believe Dr. Banner's temperature is decreasing."_

"What?" Tony demanded, jerking upright and scrutinizing Bruce. Pepper was staring at him with wide eyes from the other side of the bed. If Tony looked closely, there  _was_  a bit of a difference. Bruce's face was no longer quite so pale, and his eyes weren't moving quite as erratically behind the closed lids.

_"Dr. Banner's temperature had decreased by one-point-seven degrees. It seems to be dropping steadily."_

"How long before he's back at normal temperature?" Tony demanded.

 _"Around three minutes, sir,"_ JARVIS replied. Tony let out a sigh of relief. Bruce was going to make it. He was going to be okay.

"You did it," Pepper said quietly, reaching over Bruce to squeeze Tony's arm gently. "I knew you could do it."

"He's gonna be okay," Tony whispered.

Pepper smiled softly. "I'll leave you two alone, okay? I'll be in my room if you need me."

"Thanks for everything, Pepper," Tony replied, hoping Pepper could see the sincerity in his eyes.

Pepper kissed Tony's forehead and slipped out of the room. Tony watched her leave, then looked back down at Bruce.

 _"Sir,"_ JARVIS piped up, _"Dr. Banner seems to be on the brink of recovering consciousness."_

"Thanks, JARVIS," Tony replied. He had noticed that himself: a bit of restlessness in the previously still hands, Bruce's breaths quickening a little as he pulled himself out of sleep. "Alert me when Bruce's temperature is back to normal."

_"Yes, sir."_

A moment later, there was a groan from the bed. Bruce was slowly opening his eyes.

Tony squeezed Bruce's hand excitedly. "Bruce!"

Bruce moaned. "Not so loud, please," he begged softly. "I feel like someone just hit me in the head with a sledgehammer."

"Shit, sorry," Tony replied, his voice much quieter. "Other than that, how do you feel?"

"Um... Hot. Like I-" Suddenly, Bruce's face went as pale as the sheet beneath him. "Sterns."

"You're safe," Tony assured Bruce quickly. "I've researched Sterns, JARVIS has been instructed to see him as an enemy and alert me if he sees him anywhere near the building, and I'm ready to call SHIELD if you want me to."

"No SHIELD," Bruce said with a vehemence that surprised Tony. "They were supposed to take him into custody last time. I don't trust them."

"Good, cause neither do I," Tony replied. "So what happened?"

"Can we talk about this tomorrow?" Bruce requested, looking pitifully up at Tony. "I really don't wanna do this right now."

"Of course not," Tony replied quickly. "Do you wanna sleep?"

"That would be great. And thanks, Tony."

 _"Sir, Dr. Banner's temperature has returned to normal,"_ JARVIS chimed in.

Tony grinned. "It was nothing, doc."

Bruce smiled slightly, looking unsure of the expression. Tony had hardly ever seen him truly smile, and he was going to cherish this moment. Quickly, he ducked out of the room, telling JARVIS to keep surveillance on Bruce, just in case, and went to his own bedroom. He was exhausted, and now that Bruce was okay, maybe Tony could get some sleep.

* * *

When Bruce awoke, the clock by his side told him it was three in the morning. "I assume Tony's sleeping?" he asked the empty room.

 _"Correct, sir,"_ JARVIS replied. _"And may I say I am very happy to see you well again?"_

"Thanks, JARVIS," Bruce replied. "Um, how exactly did I get well again?"

_"Mr. Stark managed to nullify the immediate effects of the serum with which Mr. Sterns injected you. We will need to run further tests to make sure there are no further adverse effects, but for now, you should be safe."_

"I knew I could count on Tony," Bruce murmured, his lip curling in the tiniest hint of a smile.

 _"He was very worried about your welfare,"_ JARVIS added.

Bruce shrugged. "He'd do the same thing for any friend."

 _"With all due respect, I'm not entirely certain that's true,"_ JARVIS replied. _"And I thought it might interest you to know that Mr. Stark and Miss Potts are currently taking a break from their romantic relationship."_

"W-why would I be interested to know that?" Bruce stuttered. The news most definitely did  _not_  make his heart skip a beat. Why would it do that? Bruce didn't care either way. Not at all.

Bruce was also really bad at lying to himself.

 _"I don't know, sir, but I thought I would tell you anyway."_ JARVIS sounded incredibly sarcastic. Bruce wondered if the program was made to be that way or if it was an unfortunate side-effect of being with Tony 24/7. He would bet the latter. Then again, if anyone were going to make their A.I. talk back to them, it would be Tony.

 _"Shall I inform Mr. Stark that you're awake?"_ JARVIS asked.

Bruce jumped. "Oh, yeah, that would probably be a good idea," he replied. After a brief pause, he added, "Tony was really that worried about me?"

 _"I can show you security footage of him trying to save you, if you don't believe me,"_ JARVIS offered.

Bruce shook his head. "That… That's not necessary. But… You really think he cares for me as, you know, more than a friend?"

 _"Yes, I do, sir,"_ JARVIS replied. _"And before you ask, I am not programmed to be able to lie."_

"I wasn't going to accuse you of lying," Bruce mumbled, although he had been about to ask that. He took a deep breath. "JARVIS, where's Tony?"

_"On his way to your room, Dr. Banner. He started on his way immediately after I told him you were awake."_

"Oh." Bruce wasn't quite sure what to do. He felt like a teenager again, trying to impress his crush. He was being ridiculous, both he and Tony were grown men, but he couldn't help it.

 _"Mr. Stark is requesting permission to enter, Dr. Banner,"_ JARVIS told Bruce.

"Let him in," Bruce replied automatically.

The door swung open and Tony flew in like a tornado. "Are you okay? How are you feeling? You're not in any pain, are you? You don't feel hot or anything, right?"

"Tony, I'm fine," Bruce replied, a smile spreading across his lips.

Tony took a deep breath, then nodded. "Oh. Okay. Good."

"JARVIS said you still had to run some tests, but that I was probably safe," Bruce added.

Tony nodded again. "Yeah. Some of the stuff Sterns put in you seems to be stuff he created himself, so we'll have to figure out what it is, but I think I've neutralized all of the dangerous stuff."

"Good," Bruce replied. There was an awkward silence for a moment. "So, what are we going to do about Sterns?"

"I'll go after him," Tony replied. There was unexpected savagery in his voice. "He needs to be brought to justice."

"Shouldn't you just get SHIELD?"

Tony shook his head. "I don't trust them. And you said you didn't either, last night."

Bruce took a moment to think about it, then remembered that yes, he had said that, hadn't he? And it was true. He really didn't trust SHIELD in this case. They were supposed to have had Sterns in custody already, and they obviously hadn't done that very well. Bruce trusted Tony far more.

"So what are you going to do?" Bruce asked.

Tony shrugged. "I'll find Sterns and I'll get him put in custody or something. I'll figure out the details later. Right now, you tell me how you're feeling."

"Um... Fine," Bruce replied, a little thrown by the sudden topic change.

"You sure?" Tony asked worriedly. "Cause you had a lot of shit in your bloodstream. You still  _do_  have a lot of shit in your bloodstream. If anything feels weird, you need to tell me so I can fix it. Like, right now."

"Tony, we went through this. I'm fine."

"You sure? Because there could be something you're missing. Or… Or maybe you just don't feel anything yet, but the chemicals are doing something weird. I don't know. But-"

"Tony, calm down," Bruce interrupted. "I'm okay. It's fine. You've saved the day."

Tony didn't seem to find it reassuring. "Bruce, this is  _serious_. Things can still go seriously wrong."

"Calm down, Tony. It's okay. It's over."

"But what if I screwed up?" Tony demanded. Bruce sensed they were getting to the root of the problem. "What if I did something wrong and I didn't fix the problem? What if I only made it worse?"

"You didn't," Bruce contradicted. "I'm going to be fine, Tony. It's okay."

"But what if-"

Suddenly, Bruce grabbed Tony by the front of his shirt and pulled him towards him, smashing their lips together. Tony's eyes widened in surprise and Bruce felt horror wash over him. He let go of Tony instantly. JARVIS had been wrong, it seemed.

"I-I'm sorry. I thought… I mean, I…"

"Why the hell did you stop?" Tony asked.

That had not been what Bruce was expecting.

"W-what?"

"Why did you stop kissing me?" Tony asked.

Bruce wasn't quite sure what was going on. "I… I thought you…"

"Cause that was possibly the best kiss I've ever had," Tony added. "And it ended far too soon."

As Tony pulled Bruce in for another soft kiss, Bruce felt warmth wash over his body. It seemed JARVIS had been right.

**Author's Note:**

> My writing tumblr is [here](http://winterskywrites.tumblr.com/), if you're interested.


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